Zinc element for primary batteries.



` Patented Feb. 25, |902.-

' H. J. BREWER.

ZINC ELEMENT FUR PRIMARY BATTERIES.

(Application iled Nov. 18. 1901.)

W1/.qll I-y We www (No Model.)

`city of New York, borough of Manhattan,

'a sectional elevation of an electrode embody- UNITED STAT-'Es PATENT OFFICE.

HORA'IIO J. BREWER,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ZINC ELEMENT FOR PRIMARY BATTERIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.V 694,089, `dated February 25, 1902.

Application iiled'November 18, 1901. Serial No. 82,657. (No specimens.)

T0 @ZZ whom in' may concern:

Be it known that I, HoRATIo J. BREWER, a c1t1zen of the United States, residing in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Zinc Elements for Galvanic Batteries, of which t-he following is aspecilication sufficient to enable others skilled in the art to which the invention appertains to make and use the same.

vMy improvements relate to elements employed in galvanic batteries, such as Ythe Iieclancli and others, in which a rod ot' zinc is used as one of the electrodes.

The object of the invention is to render a greater proportion of the zinc available for use in the battery than heretofore by means which are simple, inexpensive, and effective.

My invention relates to zinc electrodes made in two parts, the adjoining ends of which are coupled together and protected by a covering of insulating material, as set forth in my Letters Patent No. 677,633, dated July 2, 1901, to which reference may be had for an understanding of the advantages attained thereby over the prior state of the art. In said prior patent the two parts of the electrode are positively and directly united by the interlocking of the abutting ends, the joint between them beingprotected by a covering of insulating material.

The distinguishing feature of my present invention consists in connecting the upper and lower sections of the zinc electrode together by means of a coupling of conducting material, preferably metallic, interposed or extending between the lower end of the upper section and the upper end of the lower section andin intimate electrical contact with both of said opposed ends, both the coupling and said opposed ends being protected by a covering of insulating material, so that the lower section of the electrode may be entirely submerged in the liquid of the battery and allowed to remain there until nearly consumed without impairing the upper section or the coupling-piece by which the upper and lower sections are electrically united.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is ing my invention; Fig. 2, a transverse section upon plane of line 2 2, Fig. 1. Figs. 3

to 10, inclusive, show sectional elevations and cross-sections, respectivelyand successively,

of modified forms of the coupling between the upper and lower sections of the electrode. Figs. 1l to 14, inclusive, show isometrical views of differentforms of the coupling-piece. Figs. 15 to 17, inclusive, represent cross-sections of the electrode-joint.

In carrying out my improvements'practically the coupling-piece C, of conductive material, by which the upper (A) andlower'(B) sections of the electrode are electrically united, may obviously be varied considerably in form without departing from the spirit and intent of my invention, the essential feature of which consists in the use of a couplingpiece O, of conductive material, connecting the two sections A and B ot the electrode electrically, in combination with a covering D, of insulating material,which protects said coupling C and the opposed ends A and B of the sections to which itisapplied against the struction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the-opposed ends of the sections A and B are mortised or tapped to receive the opposite ends of the stud C', which may or may not bethreaded, as shown in Fig. 13, as preferred. When not threaded, the close t of the stud in the ends of the sections and the encirclingcoveringof insulating material D are relied upon to maintain the connection between the parts. When the stud is threaded, as indicated in Fig. 13, corresponding threads are tapped in the opposed ends of sections A and B.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the coupling consists of a plain metallic strip, such as shown in Fig. 12, two or more of which may be used, if preferred, as indicated in Fig. 15. In this case the coupling rests against the exterior sides of the opposed ends of the sections and is held in electrical con tact therewith by the covjoint from the action of the liquid. The same structure is shown in Figs. 9 and 1Q, excepting that in this case the opposed ends of the sections are countersunk to receive the tubu- IOO lar coupling C, Which is thus flush with the other parts of the electrode when in place, as indicated clearly in Fig. 9.

In the structure shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the coupling C is again tubular and formed with internal female screw-threads, which engage with corresponding male threads formed on the ends of the sections.

When a tubular metallic :form of coupling C is used, it may be split, as indicated in Figs. 11, la, 16, and 17, so that the elasticity of the metal may be utilized in effecting a close joint between the coupling and the upper and lower sections A and'B.

In any case it will be seen that the result attained is substantially the same. The upper and lower sections A and B are electrically connected by a coupling-piece C, which is protected by the covering or sleeve of insulating material D. In this connection it may be noted thatwhile I prefer to form the covering D of rubber or like insulating material, still I do not confine myself strictly to any special insulating material, since suitable cement, wax, or gum ,may be substituted as a covering, if desired, with like result where the coupling C is positively connected with the opposed ends of the sections. Vhere,

however, the coupling C simply rests against the opposed ends of the sections, a sleeve of comparatively sof t elastic rubber is desirable in order to bind the parts together, while protecting the parts inclosed from the action of the battery liquid.

By my present invention, which is supplementary to that claimed in my prior patent hereinbeore referred to, I attain all the advantages set forth in said patent, such as simplicity of and cheapness of structure, the utilization of nearly the entire lower section of zinc, and the convenient renewal of the electrode by the substitution of a new lower section for one depleted.

I have herein described the coupling C as formed of conducting material, and I do not restrict myself in this particular, although I preferably form the coupling of zinc.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A zinc electrode for galvanic batteries, made in two sections the opposed ends of which are united electrically by a coupling-piece of conducting material, and a covering of insulating material protecting said coupling-piece and the lower end of the upper section and the upper end of the lower section, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

IIORATIO J. BREWER.

Vitnesscs:

D. W. GARDNER, JOHN KIRN. 

